


It Could Happen To You

by analuisa1234



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Chaptered, Developing Relationship, Fluff, Love, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-20
Updated: 2014-02-01
Packaged: 2018-01-09 10:38:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1144976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/analuisa1234/pseuds/analuisa1234
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zayn kind of has a crush. On the really hot Officer that frequents his diner. But it's no big deal. It's only been two years of endless pining. When Officer Payne suggests instead of tipping him, they try to win the lotto and split it - of course Zayn says yes. He'd probably say yes to anything Liam asked him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Loosely based on the American film with Nicholas Cage (ew. I know) with the same title. Expect piny Zayn and lots of cute fluffiness here.

Zayn was shit at waiting tables.

  
How he had managed to keep a steady job as a waiter for almost two years was beyond him. He was almost never on time to work. His insufferable roommate enjoyed keeping him all night talking nonsense, playing his music at random intervals, and demanding attention, thus Zayn never woke up on time, no matter what. He has a poor attitude and even poorer work ethic. He barely can remember what people's orders are, when he actually even bothers to take them. Thinking about it, he's not sure how he lasted a week, let alone this long. Well, okay, he kind of knows why, and it might be why he's never put in any extra effort. He's got a pretty face and people let him get away with murder, management, customers, and the like.

But still, he sucks at his job and he hates it almost 99% of the time. Well maybe just a little less than that. But only because of an incredibly fit officer that frequents the restaurant so often, he might as well have his own table. No, he refused to let his stupid, minuscule, barely there crush on Officer Payne hold any bearing on how he viewed work. It sucked and it always would.

"Zayn, how many times am I going to have to tell you, the tables with your name on them aren't suggestions? They're your damn tables for the night!" Zayn is greeted with an angry looking, petite blond (what happened to the pink?) Perrie. Both of her skinny arms are crossed over her apron as she fixed him with a hard glare. He lifted his hands up to ward her off.

"I'm merely suggesting you're giving me the wrong tables," he said, knowing his cheeky answer would either make her laugh or make her hit him. He had to duck quickly behind her podium to miss the punch. Ah, Perrie wasn't in a playful mood today then.

"See if I seat Payne in your section ever again, prick," she muttered angrily, loud enough for him to hear, but not loud enough for the customers behind them to notice. Zayn was attempting to move out of her reach still but she managed to swat him on the head this time round.

"Already poking the dragon, I see?" Louis asked as he danced past the two of them, tray of drinks perfectly balanced in one hand. "I thought we agreed Zayn, you'd only do that with me around."

"Well, she was just so tempting this morning," Zayn waggled his eyebrows at her, hoping he could get her back to loving him instead of attempting to burn him to the ground with a single look. She narrowed her eyes further at him and Zayn was smart enough to know when he was testing fate. "Sorry Per, I'll listen today, honest."

Instead of yelling at him further, she just rolled her eyes dramatically before tossing a napkin at him. He accepted this as her way of apologizing for yelling at him. Before she could get back to being angry, he pecked her cheek quickly and ducked out of her way, considering actually taking the tables he was assigned for the day.

Forty-five minutes later, Zayn desperately regret his decision to do his job for once. He knew there was a reason he never did and he should have known to never, ever stray from that. He was covered in sticky soda, because some little brat thought it would be cute to run right past him, just as he was bringing out a party of 8's drinks. Little bastard was lucky Zayn hadn't murdered him on the spot. Louis, feeling out of character for the day, offered to take the table while Zayn attempted to clean himself off. It was to no avail as he tried to scrub the gooey substance from his skin in the bathroom. He'd need a shower if he wanted to not smell like the fountain for the rest of the day. But he still had three hours on the clock left.

And because someone enjoyed playing tricks on him, just as Zayn begrudgingly made it out of the bathroom looking worse for the wear, his favorite table was occupied. He doubled-back into the kitchen before he could make eyes with Officer Payne. No more than two seconds later, as he was trying to catch his breath, Louis swung into the room.

"Hiding are we?" He asked with a smirk, his blue eyes crinkling with mirth. He loved to watch Zayn suffer.

"M' leaving, no way can he see me like this," Zayn said in a panic, eyes darting between the kitchen entrance and the back exit. He could slip out, text Perrie and say he got sick, and then just crawl into his bed and die. Yup. That was the plan.

"Since when did you get embarrassed so easily?" Louis asked, plucking a stray piece of napkin off Zayn's forearm he hadn't noticed.

"I'm not embarrassed," Zayn quickly, sounding far too defensive to be believable. He wasn't embarrassed. No, he was pretty much mortified. He'd been denying his stupid, unimportant, barely there crush for almost two years now and the thought that Liam was going to see him in such a disgusting, sticky mess at his shit job was just awful. He wanted to be at home, in his bed, ignoring the world already.

"That blush on your cheeks is really suggesting otherwise," his friend, if Louis could be called that with how often his teased and tormented Zayn, replied with a satisfactory grin.

"What would you know Louis?"

Zayn wished he could have come up with something better, something that would burn Louis for all the embarrassing crap he had done up until getting with Harry, and even after that. But he actually couldn't, because Louis was rarely ever embarrassed and over something like this, it would be nearly impossible for Zayn to actually get him. Luckily, or actually probably unluckily, Perrie popped her head into the kitchen and fixed them both with a look that could boil water.

"Five minutes," she groaned. "Is it so hard to get you two to stay away from each other and work for longer than five minutes?!"

Louis managed to ooze charm, something he had been picking up from his boyfriend no doubt. "So sorry love, just helping poor Zayn out after the soda debacle."

She looked at Zayn and he must been in bad enough shape that her sour expression melted and she looked sorry for him. "Poor thing, that shirt is definitely ruined love," she picked another piece of napkin off him. "Better hurry out there though! Payne is looking for you."

"Did he ask where I was?" Zayn blurted out, ears turning pink as soon as he realized how desperate he sounded. "I mean-don't want to keep the customers waiting. Gotta keep customer service up."

Both Louis and Perrie gave him disbelieving looks, but neither commented on how pathetic he was. He took that as his chance to duck out of the room without another word.

Officer Payne was in fact looking for him. He was in full uniform, as usual, probably just getting off his morning shift. He was alone, like always, but he seemed happy to be by himself. His dark eyes were scanning the room when Zayn walked in and as soon as they locked eyes, he grinned.

"Zayn!" He raised a thick arm, draped in muscles that Zayn definitely did not dream about.

With a slight blush, Zayn made his way over to his table. "Afternoon Officer."

"One day I'm going to get you to call me Liam," he chided Zayn, crooked grin in place, the one he only ever used on Zayn when at the restaurant. Not that Zayn would notice something like that. Except he did, and it felt great. Perrie and Cher teased him about it endlessly, but well.

"Maybe," Zayn said, like he always did. And Liam laughed, just like normal, sounding thoroughly amused even if this was the 10th or 15th time they had this discussion.

"Usually you're here before me, did you just get in?" Liam scanned the restaurant again, probably looking to see what other waiters were there to guess if he was wrong. It was cute that Liam was aware of his schedule.

Zayn wanted to groan because Liam was too nice. The food stains, mussed hair, and soda all over him clearly showed he had been there all day. But Liam would never tease about that.

"Yeah I'm trying a new cologne out, it's called Mountain Dew, want a whiff?" Zayn joked, leaning forward without thinking twice. Liam did too, sniffing him before bursting into laughter.

"Run in with the soda fountain?"

"More like some snotty brats who don't know the meaning of "no running," Zayn offered. And just like that, with Liam laughing heartily, Zayn sort of forgot to be embarrassed. He got Liam his regular, fish and chips with a coke, which was already prepared, since Zayn knew when to put his order in before Liam even arrived. Which might be kind of sad. But Zayn liked to view it as a good work ethic. If he knew what he wanted and when he would come for it, when not make sure it's ready? This was probably the only time he could be considered a good worker.

He managed to chat with Liam the whole time he ate, avoiding most of the people in his section, who Louis picked up. By the end of his meal, Liam usually asked Zayn his plans for the weekend or how his shift was so far that day, but instead he picked a little piece of paper from his wallet instead. Zayn's heart started racing at that. Was Liam giving him his number? Why was he so excited by that? Clearly he needed to get laid.

"I have a proposition for you Zayn," Liam said, waggling the paper at him.

He tried hard to keep his expression neutral as he said, "Oh yeah?"

"How about instead of a tip, if I win the lotto tomorrow, we split it evenly?" Liam was smiling at him brightly, his eyes crinkling slightly, just like Zayn loved. He looked positively excited at the idea of it. Zayn almost had to do a double take, because he hadn't expected that. Which was, disappointing to say the least.

"Is this your way of getting out of leaving me the usual 5 quid?" Zayn asked, trying his best not to sound so devastated. The hot cop was not going to leave the lousy waiter his number. They would never go on a date. Zayn would save himself a lot of heart ache if he just accepted these things.

"It's 10 million pounds," Liam told him, showing him what Zayn realized was a ticket. "You pick three, I'll pick three. We win and we split?"

Zayn stomped out his disappointment and fixed Liam with a grin, "I'll pick three. If you don't win, you're giving me double my tip next time you're in!"

"If we don't win," Liam corrected him. "But don't worry, we will! Now, just jot your three down here," he pointed to the blank spaces.

Zayn paused for a minute, contemplating what numbers he should pick. After a long moment, he realized Liam was watching him intently. He felt his whole body flush at that and he immediately wrote down the first three numbers that came to mind. Which happened to just be Safaa’s birthday. And the first day that Liam came into the diner. But he would never admit out loud that he had any idea when Liam started frequenting the place. Because that would be absolutely pathetic. And Zayn did not do pathetic. He just didn’t.

Liam quickly filled in his own three numbers before looking back up at Zayn with the happiest grin. Zayn had to bit his lip, hard, to keep from asking Liam how he managed to be so damn hot he couldn’t concentrate, while still being the cutest man alive? It was a question Zayn had spent many nights trying to figure it out. And he just couldn’t. Liam was like a mystery to him.

Zayn couldn't fight off the grin splitting his own face as Liam continued to smile at him like Zayn was his favorite person. If he had known that agreeing to split a lotto winning with Liam would make him smile like that, Zayn would have done this forever ago.

"The drawing is in the afternoon tomorrow," Liam explained as he pocketed the ticket. "What do you plan on spending your half on?"

"I'm not going to entertain that idea, you know how unlucky our odds are," Zayn replied. Honestly he wanted something terribly, but money wouldn’t give him that. If he was ever going to get what he wanted either Zayn would have to man up and ask for it, or just let it fade away.

"Well I would like a nice new car," Liam said thoughtfully. "And I'd like to go on a long holiday."

"Where would you go?" Zayn asked as he cleared away the table.

"Dunno," Liam shrugged. "Farthest I've ever been is to London. I think it'd be nice to travel the world for a bit. I've got a lot of days stored up too."

"Getting out of here for a while would be nice," Zayn said once he'd passed on Liam's dishes to the busboy. Josh gave him an all-to-knowing look and Zayn vowed to talk to Louis about who he discussed Zayn’s crushes with. Because it was not okay that everyone (but Liam, of course) was aware of his feelings.

"You can get your book published," Liam suggested and Zayn couldn't keep the blush from staining his cheeks. He had mentioned, months ago, how he had been working on a novel in his spare time instead of going to uni. The fact that Liam remembered that and remembered Zayn was too nervous to turn it in to just any publisher – well. He wanted that to mean something. It had to.

By the time Zayn was back to the land of the living, Liam was standing. "Same time tomorrow, then?"

Zayn almost said "no place I’d rather be" but caught himself and corrected, "M'stuck here forever. Tomorrow officer."

"It's Liam," he mumbled to himself as he shook his head. Zayn watched him get ion his patrol car, buckle up, and then drive away. He almost jumped out if his skin when someone clapped him on the back.

"You've got it bad," Louis said before bursting into laughter. Zayn really did have it bad.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There hasn't been much Ziam yet, but don't worry. It's coming! Along with lot's of fluffiness. And Niall. And Harry. Can't leave out the rest of the gang! Enjoy. Oh, actually! If you're interested in seeing anything, I'm always open for suggestions.

The thing about being friends with Louis was, Zayn _knew_ how Louis was. He’d known Louis for as long as he could remember. They’d lived two houses away from each other growing up. They had gone to nursery school together and as soon as Louis saw him, with a brand new box of crayons and his favorite Power Rangers socks on, he’d insisted they were going to be best friends. And they had been, all through primary and college. When Louis enrolled in Uni, there had never been any question whether Zayn was going with him, if he chose to get his teaching degree or not. It was just how they had planned it. They wanted to be each other’s first roommates. Mainly because it would be convenient living with someone who knew you so well. But also because they wanted to experience living on their own, without their parents, together. Really, Zayn had seen this all coming, because Louis was the craziest person he’d ever met. The kindest, most loving person ever, but literally bat-shit crazy.

“ _Let the rain fall down and wake my dreams, let it wash away my sanity_! _Cause I wanna feel the thunder, I wanna scream_!”

Zayn groaned loudly, definitely loud enough for his insane flat mate to hear him. For some Godforsaken reason, Louis was blasting Hilary Duff at, Zayn glanced at the clock, 9:30 in the morning. Neither of them had work for another four hours. He literally couldn’t fathom why Louis was up, let alone dancing and singing at such an hour. It was useless to try and get back to sleep at this point.  Zayn knew that much. He wrapped himself up in his comforter and shuffled into the living room, to find Louis in the middle of cleaning and sashaying around their flat. He froze instantly. If there was one thing that Louis never did, it was clean. He was perfectly content living in his own filth. Some days, Zayn thought he was worse than pigs. Because he didn’t even realize he lived in a mess. It was so much a part of his life, he seemed uncomfortable when things were too clean. It was the reason Zayn never went in Louis room. He’d made the mistake once, after going to the launderette. He was trying to be a good mate and bring Louis’s clothes into his room, since he’d washed both of theirs. But when he went inside, he’d slipped on something (he never did find out what) and shattered his elbow. He’d been in a stupid cast for weeks after that and Louis had said it was his own fault and refused to apologize.

“Do I need to ring the police?” Zayn asked when the song ended. Louis whipped around then, his blue eyes shining with mirth as his face lit up. Yup, he was calling the police. Clearly his mate had lost it. Gone mental and killed someone in their apartment and now he was cleaning up and getting rid of the evidence. Really, Zayn should be running at this point.

“Zayn, the person I love most after myself and maybe Harold,” Louis cried happily surging forward. Zayn put both hands up to ward him off. His blanket slipped a little, but it kept Louis at least an arm’s length away. He assumed that was a reasonably safe distance.

“You’re cleaning,” Zayn said slowly, hoping Louis wasn’t in the middle of a psychotic break and about to stab him with a fork or something.

“You’re awfully observant early in the morning,” Louis responded before smacking Zayn on his comforter-burrito clad bum and heading towards the kitchen. “I was thinking of cooking up some bacon, hungry?”

Zayn stared after him, his mind completely blown. This wasn’t Louis. He didn’t know who it was pretending to be his best mate, but he was going to find out. “Who is the first person I ever kissed?”

“What kind of response is that to ‘are you hungry?’ Really Zayn, it’s not that early. You don’t have to pretend like I woke you round three,” Louis said, pulling juice and bacon from the fridge. He was setting up in front of the griddle when he realized Zayn hadn’t responded. “Do you really want me to answer that silly question?”

“Well if you don’t know it, you’re proving my theory right,” Zayn said, crossing his arms over his chest.

“It was Rosie Mellenhorn. We were nine and she was about a foot taller than you, you little shit,” Louis said before swigging orange juice straight from the carton. “We were out on the playground and I dared you to kiss her. All our friends fancied her, but she had a crush on you since nursery school, so we knew she wouldn’t be pissed.”

Damn. Okay, so it was Louis then. Or he was a really good imposter with insider information. He wasn’t sure if he should be concerned that someone was pretending to be Louis. They had already begun cleaning up their flat, offered to make him breakfast, and knew all of their childhood stories.

“Harry’s coming over tonight!” Louis said happily, dropping a plate of toast and bacon in front of Zayn. “In case I seemed a little happier than usual.”

Now it all made sense.

Harry and Louis had started dating six months ago. What had started out as semi-casual shagging turned into the most serious relationship Zayn had ever seen Louis in. And Louis had been in _a lot_ of relationships in their 22 years as friends. Men and women of all sorts of ages. But ever since he met Harry, he was solely focused on the curly-headed twit. He wasn’t really a twit, Zayn actually loved him and thought he was hysterical, if not a bit weird, but anyone willing to date Louis had to be strange. Most nights, when Louis wasn’t annoying the hell out of Zayn, he was crashing at Harry’s place a few blocks over. But, in all that time, Harry had never actually been inside their flat. At least, not long enough to know what it looked like. The one time he had come in, it was pitch-black, and Louis had run in to grab something (Zayn was positive it was a sex toy, but Louis never did confirm) and then rushed right back out. At first, Zayn had thought they were being robbed. Louis must have been even more serious about Harry to bring him home _and_ clean-up for him.

“Please tell me you’re not going to blow him on our couch,” Zayn said between bites of food. “I’ve really loved not walking in on your sexcapades as of late.”

“I’ll keep all blowjobs strictly in the bedroom and shower,” Louis promised with his fingers raised in scouts honor. It was some dumb habit he’d picked up after they watched some stupid American film Zayn never could recall the name of.

“I can’t argue that,” because really, he couldn’t He’d seen every angle of Louis’s ass possible at this point. And his dick. And balls. Really, he’d just seen way too much of his mate to really want to ever see any of it ever, ever, ever again. Louis was incredibly adventurous when it came to sex. Whereas Zayn had been pretty vanilla since he turned 20 and since he’d met Liam, he’d basically become a monk.

“So, are you excited to see Payn-o later? Maybe he’ll take you on his holiday if you guys win.”

“We aren’t winning,” Zayn said quickly, because he had promised himself he wouldn’t get excited about any of this. “And even if we do, which we won’t, he’d never take me. I bet he’s got some tall, blonde bird back home he’s felt bad about mentioning, since I’m so pathetically alone and he’s too nice to rub that all in my face.”

Louis didn’t respond. Instead he bent forward, pushed Zayn’s burrito-comforter away and then pulled his jogger’s forward. Zayn floundered immediately, because Louis knew he didn’t wear pants 75% of the time. And sure enough, Louis got a great view of his prick.

“Oi! The fuck?!” He shouted, pushing Louis’s hands away from him.

“Checking to see if you’d grown a vagina that I didn’t know about,” Louis replied calmly, with a cheeky grin Zayn whacked him with the back of his hand which only made Louis cackle. Yup, his mate was clinically insane.

 

Six and a half hours later, Zayn was leaned up against the hostess podium, attempting to get Perrie to reassign his tables. The effort was futile.

“If you weren’t so pretty Zee, you’d be out of a job in seconds,” Perrie said angrily, scribbling his name back onto the tables he’d erased them from. “The boys and girls just swoon when they see your face.”

“I’m helping bring customers in,” Zayn said. “Can’t that just be my job?”

“What, be a pretty face?”

“Yeah.”

“You’re such an arse,” she swatted him angrily. “Go get your tables, I’m sure lover boy will be here soon and you’ll be even more useless to me when he’s here.”

Except Liam didn’t show up at his usual time (4:45, almost on the dot) and when 5:30 rolled around, Zayn was in a positively foul mood. He had broken a plate (well more like thrown a plate at the wall) and was being forced, by the angriest little blonde in all of London, to wash dishes. He’d been actively avoiding his punishment. Instead of washing the disgusting pile of dishes, he had one dish in the sink, the water running on high, and the soap bottle turned over on top of the dish. While that took care of itself, he tried to figure out if he could lug the remaining dishes out to the fireplace in the front and burn them all without causing too much of a scene.

He was half way through piling the dishes onto the trolley when Louis burst into the kitchen, grinning like the idiot he was.

“Go away or you’re going in the fire too,” Zayn growled, neatly stacking his burn pile.

“Payne’s here and he’s looking for you!”

The fact that his heart immediately started racing and his he could literally feel his bad mood slipping away was downright sad. But the thing about Officer Liam Payne was – he was perfect. There was no other word to describe him. At first, Zayn had just fancied him. Liam was fit and had a sexy voice. And he looked hot as fuck in his uniform. Zayn had shoved Louis out of the way when he’d attempted to serve Liam the first time he sat down in the diner. What started out as an attraction turned into a full-blown crush almost instantly. Liam was kind and charming. Not like Harry, who could charm the pants off of anything living thing. But the kind of charming where he’d be nice to someone’s mother naturally, not because he felt obligated too. And Liam was funny and geeky, just like Zayn. They had discussed The Dark Knight Rises for hours after they each saw the film. He was loyal, to his family and to his job. He had all the qualities Zayn desired in a boyfriend, yet he had no idea if Liam was even gay. It was the one thing they’d never discussed. He knew Zayn was gay, pretty much after his second day there where Louis had said something about the one time they’d made out to see what it was like but realized it was like kissing your brother. Liam asked about his love life (non-existent, thanks to him) and his family, he loved hearing about his sisters. He would tell stories of his own about his two sisters dressing him up when he was little and annoying him endlessly.

“Should I just take the table then?” Louis asked and Zayn realized how weird he must have just looked. Staring at the blank wall, just thinking about Liam and his stupid perfectness.

“You wouldn’t dare.”

“Then get out here! I’m sure your boy is starving,” Louis said as he began to slip out of the room. Zayn was on his heels in seconds, and sure enough, Liam was sitting at his usual table, looking all of out sorts. Zayn instantly felt awful for not being there to greet him for the second day in a row. He quickly rushed over and grinned at Liam.

“Sorry ‘bout the wait,” Zayn said, trying to sound cheerful enough for Liam, but not too happy because he didn’t want to scare him. “They put me on dish duty.”

“No worries,” Liam waved his hand. “Are you guys short-staffed or summat?”

“It was more of a punishment than a necessity,” Zayn explained, his cheeks betraying him and turning pink. There was no way Liam could know he was being punished for being a brat because Liam was late, but still. Zayn was pretty sure 15-year-old girls reacted better to these situations than him. Damn Liam for being so fit. And pretty. And cute. And perfect.

“Per punished you?” Liam sounded stunned. “I thought that one really fancied you.”

Zayn didn’t mean the bark of laughter that slipped past his lips, but _that_ was too funny not to laugh at. Liam gave him a curious look. “Perrie would fancy a rock over me. She’s said so herself.”

“Well, she’s always going on about how pretty you are,” Liam offered, looking a bit sheepish.

“Talking about my prettiness with the woman in charge, are you?” Zayn said instinctively, not even realizing his flirtatious connotations. Liam blushed at that and Zayn thought it was probably the sexiest, yet most adorable, thing he’d ever seen.

“You’ll never know.”

“Then you’ll never get your fish and chips.”

“I didn’t expect them, seeing as I’ve been sitting here for twenty minutes already.”

“You’re in sassier mood than usual. And you were late. You don’t deserve your meal. Maybe it went cold waiting for you,” Zayn said, because it actually had. But he’d never tell Liam that he always had his food ready and waiting for him. He’d instead let him believe he provided excellent, timely service.

“I’m actually not here to eat,” Liam said, standing up. Zayn instantly panicked. He hadn’t said something to offend Liam, had he? Why would Liam come to the diner, if not to eat?

“Oh really?” Zayn asked, attempting to keep his voice even.

“Yeah.”

“Then what did you come for?” Zayn watched Liam shrug back into his jacket and he felt his positive mood leaving him quickly. Liam couldn’t leave! He’d just gotten there!

“Had something to tell you,” Liam said, like he was commenting on the weather. Zayn just gapped at him, because he really didn’t have any idea what to say back to that. Liam seemed to sense his unease, because he gave Zayn such a wide, crinkly-eyed smile, he felt better at once. Liam pulled out his wallet and was flashing the little white paper from yesterday at him. “We won!”

“What?” Zayn wasn’t sure he’d heard him correctly.

“We won Zayn!” And Liam was pulling him into this tight, warm, perfect hug and Zayn couldn’t really process anything else. _They won_.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I listened to a lot of My Chemical Romance while writing this chapter. Sorry, wanted to go back 10 years and relive the sixth grade…can’t believe it’s been 10 years. But here is your Ziam! You’ll be happy next chapter folks :)

When Zayn was a little boy, and his father hadn’t gotten his big promotion yet, he used to dream of what it would be like to have lots of money. He had imagined all of the things he’d like to buy: toys, new clothes with his favorite characters on them, those shoes that Waliyha had cried about, a bunch of teddies for Saf, and then one of those motorized cars. He had wanted a lot of things, really. By no means had they been poor when he was growing up, but his parents never spent their money on such frivolous things.  If they didn’t need it, they didn’t get it. It was his parents rule. Only on birthday days were they allowed to make silly toy requests, and even those had to be relatively conservative. He never understood that as a child, because there were so many toys and treats that he wanted. He didn’t understand the difference between want and need at six. As an adult, Zayn realized how hard it must have been for his parents to support their four children while still trying to provide for them in the future. Had Zayn chosen to go to University, his parents were prepared to split the cost with him, just like they had for Doniya and would for his younger sisters. They believed in helping your children out, while still assuring that they worked just as hard to support themselves. 

His parents had taught him a lot about money, without him even realizing it. Being his age, without any real responsibilities, Zayn has a disposable income that would allow him to eat take away every day and drink every night with his friends, if he so desired. But he never did. Instead, half of every check went straight into his savings, while the other half went towards rent. Zayn used his tip money for everything else: utlities, groceries, and little things for himself here and there. But he rarely even got those. Louis called him crazy, always told him he should buy more. But that was just Louis. He didn’t know what to do with money. He was so used to always having it. His parents never let him pay for anything when they were younger and then the inheritance his grandfather left him kicked in when they were 18. Money was a constant, unchangeable thing for Louis. But Zayn was never positive of what could happen next and if he had the opportunity to prepare, he was going to.

What he hadn’t expected was any situation where he would have money just handed to him. Never in a million years had Zayn even considered playing the lottery. He knew the odds. He had always scored high in maths. So, he knew the odds were never in your favor. But now that Liam was standing there, still semi-holding him, Zayn felt like maybe this was all a sign for a much bigger picture.

“Zayn?”

He had a tendency to get lost in his own head. Louis used to get annoyed when they were younger, because no one ignored Louis, not even for a minute. Eventually he realized that Zayn couldn’t help himself. Now, he just made Zayn tell him where he’d been and if he’d thought of anything fun for Louis to do while he was there.

“Sorry,” Zayn said quickly, shaking his thoughts out. “You’re not joking then?”

“I couldn’t joke about something like this,” Liam said earnestly. Zayn could feel himself become restless. They won the lottery! It was so much money. Too much money. What in the world was he going to do with all of it?

“You’re telling me we won ten million pounds?” Zayn asked, probably sounding like he was a bit slow. Liam had probably said they won about a dozen times already, but he need to look into those chocolate brown eyes and be assured that they really did win.

Liam’s eyes darted from his instantly, “Well...here’s the thing Zayn-“

“You’re a horrible person!” Zayn said, playfully shoving Liam away. He _knew_ this was a trick. “Quit taking the piss you wanker!”

“No,” Liam said at once, hitting Zayn with his huge, should-be-illegal puppy dog eyes. “I’m not! We really did win.”

“So what’s “the thing” then?”

“I read the amount wrong,” Liam said sheepishly, looking down at both of their feet. Zayn really wished he wouldn’t. He was wearing a pair of Louis’s bright ass TOMs because he couldn’t be bothered to find his own shoes that morning. Seeing as he’d been woken from his slumber hours early. Looking down now, he realized they were in fact purple.

“How much did we win then? I’m assuming it’s less?” Zayn asked, not really caring about the amount. They could have won five pounds or a billion pounds for all he cared. Just to be able to say he won something with Liam was more than enough of a victory for him.

“Um,” Liam rubbed the back of his neck before fixing Zayn with an irresistible smirk and his crinkly eyes. “We won  a hundred million…not ten, but one hundred. I didn’t see the extra zero.”

“One hundred million pounds?!” Zayn screamed and Liam nodded his head vigorously, his cheeks scrunched up under his perfect eyes. Zayn couldn’t breathe.

When he came to, he was on the floor of the diner (ew) with a pounding headache and Liam leaning over him, arguing loudly with none other than Louis. Perrie was by the top of his head, brushing back the hair there.

“What the hell happened?” She asked tersely. “He brings in half my customers! If you hurt him Payne, I’m banning you from the diner.”

“I didn’t hurt him! He fainted!” Liam sounded exasperated.

“I can’t believe you made him faint!” Louis yelled. There was no need for yelling. Zayn was just about to tell his friend off when he continued. “What was the last thing you said to him?”

Liam was quiet and Zayn could feel Louis and Perrie’s death glares, no need for opening his eyes. “I told him that we won!”

Perrie’s happy “You what?” came out exactly at the same time as Louis’s “I _fucking_ knew it!”

“I’d mixed up the amounts-

“So it’s not ten million then?” Louis sounded annoyed. Of course he did.

“No.”

“How much then?” Perrie pressed.

“Hundred million,” Liam said quickly.

Zayn couldn’t pretend to be passed out any longer because Perrie and Louis literally began shrieking in his ear. He sat up quickly, shoving Louis hard in the chest, “Bugger off!”

“You’re a millionaire!” Louis was screaming, grabbing hold of Zayn’s shirt and shaking him. Zayn attempted to free himself from Louis’s grip, but he forgot how strong the tiny prick actually was. He was hauling Zayn up onto his feet in seconds, grabbing hold of Liam and bringing him in for a weird, 3-way hug.

“We have to celebrate!” Louis shouted. “Let’s go out for drinks! I’ll call Harry! Oh my god, we can go to one of those ritzy clubs now that you’re minted!”

Like classic Louis, he didn’t give them a chance to answer because he was already off, pulling his mobile out to no-doubt call Harry. Zayn turned to Liam, completely embarrassed by his mate’s reaction and his own. Actually, he was mortified. He couldn’t believe he’d fainted right in front of Liam.

“Well that was all sorts of humiliating,” Zayn said, feeling as awkward as he sounded. Liam didn’t seem to mind at all. He just smiled at Zayn, that special grin that he only used for him.

“What the fainting? Or your overbearing friend dragging us both out with his boyfriend?”

“Both! I’m so sorry about Louis he’s – wait, how did you know Harry’s his boyfriend?” Zayn asked, not recalling actually mentioning Harry to Liam. Selfishly, he didn’t talk about other guys in front of Liam, because in the off chance that he was gay and single, he didn’t want any competition. Even though Harry wasn’t actually competition, seeing as he was with Louis, Zayn didn’t like to leave any room for chance there.

“Harry and I went to primary together,” Liam said, like it was a completely obvious fact that Zayn should have known. “We reconnected when he moved into the flat next to mine two years back. He’s got me playing FIFA with him on the nights Louis is in school too late to come over.”

Zayn counted to ten slowly in his head. He needed time to process everything Liam had just said to him, because there was _a whole fucking lot_ to think about. And the saddest part was that them winning a hundred million pounds was actually at the bottom of that list.

“I’m just going to grab Lou and see if he actually is going to drag us out,” Zayn said, lifting a finger. “Give me a minute and I’ll be right back.”

It took every fiber in his being not to charge across the diner and rip Louis into pieces. Zayn was so angry, he could feel it in his fingertips. Harry and Liam were friends. Not like casual, barely see each other kind of friends. They were good friends. Probably best mates. That lived next door to each other. And hung out, all the time.  He made it to Louis in seconds, just as his friend was turning around with open arms. Zayn chanced a look back at Liam to find him scrolling though his mobile. Zayn grabbed Louis by his shirt collar and yanked him behind the podium, out of Liam’s line of view.

“You shirty bastard, is that anyway to greet your best mate as he plans your big celebration?” Louis said, rubbing at his neck, where Zayn had rough housed him.

“Harry and Liam are friends,” Zayn ground out. He couldn’t even imagine it. How the fuck did he not know this.

Louis looked at him Zayn blankly. “What?”

“Harry, your curly-headed, big-mouthed boyfriend. That guy you fucked six months ago and have been in love with ever since?” Zayn said in a voice that clearly conveyed he would snap any moment now. “He is friends with Liam, the sexy officer I have been fucking pining after like an arse for two years now. They are friends. _They live next door to each other._ ”

“Oh I never told you that?”

He couldn’t control what happened next. All Zayn knew was, he had Louis pinned to the wall with his elbow close to Louis's esophagus when Liam came round the corner and froze. He glanced at Louis, struggling fervently against Zayn, and then he looked at Zayn. He could only imagine how bonkers he looked. Just found out he won the lotto, his friend only wants to celebrate with their mutual friend, and there he is, attempting to strangle him in public.

Instinctively, he let Louis go and put his hands up. Liam was in uniform, after all.

Liam seemed to have the same train of thought, looking down at himself then back up at Zayn. “Should I come back?”

“No,” Zayn and Louis said at the same time. Louis threw Zayn the iciest look before moving towards Liam was a grin plastered on his face.

“Harry said he’s got the perfect place for us to celebrate,” Louis said. He might be grinning for Liam, but the tense set in his shoulders told Zayn he was pretty pissed about the attack. Well too fucking bad.

Zayn was furious that Louis had failed to mention the fact Harry lived next door to Liam. Six months, for _six freaking months_ he listened to endless things about Harry. He knew everything you could know about the kid, what side of the bed he slept on, his favorite ice cream flavor, the fact that he’d had his joggers pulled down when he was in camp and hadn’t been wearing pants when he was eleven – literally everything about Harry, except this. Which meant, Zayn had missed out on six months of opportunity at _something_ more with Liam. Even friendship outside of the diner would be like a freaking miracle. At this point Zayn was not above admitting he might be in love with Liam. And Louis knew that. He had known how Zayn had felt about Liam way before Zayn did. He’d been teasing him mercilessly for ages now. The fact that he was too busy out having weird sex with Harry to remember to mention his friendship with Liam was a violation of their own friendship code. No matter what, they came first in each other’s lives until they got married. They’d made a blood pact when they were thirteen and everything! If Zayn really was the most important person in Louis’s life, he wouldn’t have let something like this just slip by.

While Zayn silently stewed over the fact Louis was a freaking tit, it seemed he and Liam had a conversation of sorts. Louis threw him another nasty glare before slinking off back towards their tables. Liam stood there momentarily, looking lost.

“Did I interrupt something just before?” Liam asked, rubbing at his neck. It was strange how endearing Zayn found that.

“No,” he promised, because it wasn’t something he couldn’t continue at home. Where he planned to murder then bury Louis later. “Louis is an idiot, no worries.”

“He’s very intent on going out tonight,” Liam said.

“You don’t have to,” Zayn said at once, because he knew how insistent Louis was. Hell, it was the reason he did 90% of the things he did. He didn’t want Liam to feel pressured into hanging out with them. It’s not like he’d ever had a desire to do so before, so why would he now? “I’m sure you want to celebrate with your friends or girlfriend…”

Liam looked at him very curiously for a moment, “You and Lou are friends. Sides, Harry is one of my mates and Louis said I can bring anyone else I’d like to. It should be an interesting night!”

“Yeah, interesting,” Zayn said, trying not to get tripped up that Liam hadn’t said it would be a ‘good’ night or a ‘fun’ night, but interesting.

“Do you not want me to come…?” Liam asked when he sensed Zayn’s unease. “I feel a bit daft now, am I that weird customer who thought we were friends but you’re just nice to everyone? It’s all a bit embarrassing.”

If that wasn’t just the sweetest thing Liam had said, Zayn almost melted. “Of course we’re friends,” he assured him, because he couldn’t be fucking happier to hear Liam call him his friend. He wanted to be Liam’s best friend. Well okay, he wanted to be a lot more than just that. But he’d totally take being friends with Liam over anything else for now.

“So you’re sure you want me to come?”

Maybe Zayn needed a bit more of a sex life, because his mind sort of short circuited when he heard Liam asked about coming. He didn’t usually have inherently dirty thoughts, he wasn’t Louis after all, but Liam was standing there in uniform, scruffy faced, big ass muscles on display…talking about coming. It was a natural reaction.

Zayn didn’t trust his voice, so he just nodded. Liam’s face shone at that, “Well I better get home and changed then. Louis said to meet at yours for 9.”

“Perfect,” Zayn forced out, his voice cracking half way through. He might need to see a therapist. It was unnatural the reactions Liam got out of him. He was a grown man for God’s sake.

Liam seemed hesitant for a moment before leaning forward to give Zayn another hug. The fact that Zayn was capable of lifting his own arms to reciprocate the hug was a miracle.

“I can’t believe we won,” Liam whispered. Zayn just nodded his head, in a daze. Liam smelt incredible. If he could bottle this scent and wear it for the rest of his life, he would. Liam was pulling away much too soon for Zayn’s liking, but he was smiling at Zayn like he was the only person in the world, so it was a nice replacement. “We can collect our winnings tomorrow, if we don’t get too pissed tonight.”

“Well, Louis will be there, so I’m sure at least one of the group will come home pantless,” Zayn said with a shrug, doing his damn best attempt at nonchalance.

Liam threw his head back and laughed at that, “It’ll be “Harry most likely. But I’m sure Louis won’t mind.”

“We’re going to want to get out of their way ASAP if that happens,” Zayn said, because he’d seen what Harry and Louis get up to. They had crashed at Harry’s after a night out a few weeks back and they had started humping each other with Zayn sitting next to them in the cab. By the time they got inside Harry’s flat, it was frightening. Zayn had slept with the covers pulled around his head.

“Sounds like tonight will be wild then,” Liam said happily. He began towards the door and Zayn almost begged him to say and just go out in his uniform. Or naked. Either was really hot, Zayn was sure. “See you at 9 Zee!”

Zayn couldn’t even form a sentence. He stood there with his hand up, ready to wave but not actually moving, as he watched Liam leave. He wasn’t sure which was harder to believe: the fact they had won a hundred million pounds or the fact he was going out to celebrate that with Liam tonight. It was only then that something hit Zayn – what the fuck was he going to wear.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a BEAST. I think It's 2x longer than the existing story. But I couldn't help myself!! It has drunk Louis, Harry, and Zayn. What more could you ask for? More to come loves xx

The rest of Zayn's shift moved by at a snail’s pace.

Zayn knew that had to do with three things. The first being Louis not speaking to him. He was still obviously pissed with Zayn, because even though he was the one who was wrong, he enjoyed playing the victim. The second was the fact that he knew he didn’t actually need to work anymore. If he’d really just won all this money, and Zayn was smart about it, he’d never have to work another day in his life. Not that he was about to up and quit his job, because even though he hated actually working, he enjoyed the environment. The last, and biggest factor, was that Zayn knew in only a short three hours, he was going to be hanging out with _Liam_ of all people. His mind was spinning wildly.

He wasn’t big on trying to impress people. He was perfectly content with what he had and who he had in his life, so he’d never felt the need to parade around for others. But he wanted to impress Liam. He wanted tonight to go so flawlessly, that Liam realized they were perfect for each other and he asked Zayn out for a night alone. Where they could both acknowledge the fact that they were soul mates and should just get together already. But Zayn wasn’t exactly sure how one went about convincing the love of your life that you were the love of their life. He knew he’d have to get Louis back on his side in order to do so.

So when they got home later, Louis called the shower first. And by "called the shower," he kicked Zayn in the shin before slamming the bathroom door. If the night was going to go according to plan, Zayn knew he had to mend things with Louis. He could be really pissed at him later for being a shitty friend. Right now, Louis was all he had.  So Zayn popped in the last disc of season 6 One Tree Hill in while he sorted through their cabinets to find Louis's favorite biscuits. For added measure, he even brewed him a cup of his favorite mint tea.

  
By the time Louis came out of the bathroom, completely starkers, Zayn had a nice little set up going on in the living room. Louis eyed him warily but as soon as Sophia Bush came on screen, he was scooting onto the couch and dipping his biscuits in his tea.

  
"Fetch my outfit for tonight, will you?" Louis asked, but he tone conveyed it wasn't really a question.

"Is it laid out?"

  
"Of course not," Louis huffed. "Sawyer Scott, really what happened to Anna after her mum?"

  
Zayn kept his opinion to himself, because he knew better than to talk when Louis was watching TV. And he knew from experience that his opinion was almost always wrong when it came to One Tree Hill.

“What are you wearing then?” Zayn asked, still wondering what he should wear.

“Red chinos, white v-neck, and my black blazer – the nice one, not the shitty one I wear for karaoke,” Louis said around his biscuit. Zayn nodded his head before attempting to find these clothes. It seemed Louis had actually cleaned his room that morning along with the rest of the apartment, so Zayn could see the floor and a rug he’d never known Louis had. The path to the closet looked safe, but Zayn was still wary after what happened last time. The room might have been clean, but that didn’t mean that it was safe.

It took an inordinate amount of time to actually find these articles of clothing. He’d almost given up and gone out to yell at Louis, but he figured this was a test. Louis wanted to see if he was sincerely apologetic. He wasn’t and wouldn’t be. But he needed to pretend. Once he’d finally found the chinos, and the black shoes he only wore for special occasions. He’d almost left the room when he realized Louis hadn’t asked for pants. Because he knew that Louis wasn’t actually going to stay in his chinos all night, he grabbed a pair from the top drawer. Louis eyed the pile after Zayn dropped it in his lap. After a minute, he looked right at Zayn and grinned.

“You’re forgiven for being a psychopath,” he said and Zayn internally sighed. Thank God. Some days it took a lot more to oil Louis up. “Now go shower while I try to find you something to wear. If you shopped a little more, I’d actually have something to work with, but I’ll make do.”

“Should I shave?” Zayn didn’t know what to do. This was Liam after all. He had to look incredible. He didn’t foresee himself getting another chance like this.

Louis stood up, still starkers, and looked over Zayn for a long moment. He shook his head after some thought, “No, but trim up a bit. The scruff really suits you.”

“Do you think Liam likes it?” Zayn scratched at it subconsciously. Liam had scruff. But that didn’t mean he liked scruffiness on his partner. Hell, Zayn still didn’t even know if Liam liked men. He had a lot cut out for tonight.

“Go shower,” Louis pushed him towards the bathroom. “Use that citrusy stuff, it smells great!”

“I know, I bought it,” Zayn reminded him before shutting the door. He could hear Louis moving about their flat, banging in things (only Louis) and whatnot. Even though he was still pissed about the whole Harry and Liam friend situation, he was kind of happy that Louis had managed to finally give Zayn his chance with Liam. He was going out with Liam tonight. He’d pretty much imagined every single scenario in which he could spend his time with Liam over the past two years, but he’d never thought any of those would happen. And now one was! He was probably happier than a thirteen year old girl going on her first date.

Zayn hadn’t locked the bathroom door, because most normal people didn’t barge in when the shower was running, but he forgot he lived with Louis. Just as he was getting out of the shower, his chirpy little mate burst in, loaded down with clothes. He attempted to cover himself up, because even though Louis had already seen him naked way too many times for it to be normal, that didn’t mean he wanted him to get an eyeful again. Louis didn’t seem to even notice as he handed off his clothing.

“Put these on, don’t bother with cologne, do not forget to trim and then brush your teeth,” Louis instructed. If he wasn’t so nervous about looking great for Liam, he would bitch at Louis for talking to him like a child. But he kind of was acting like one, so he said nothing and did as he was told.

Twenty minutes later, Zayn was cleaned up and ready for their night. His hair was up in the usual quaff, and his facial hair had been groomed. Louis had picked his skinniest pair of black dress pants, some grey shirt he hadn’t even known he owned, and of course – his leather jacket. Louis usually insisted that Zayn wear it out for every occasion. He said it was universally sexy and worked in all situations. Zayn really couldn’t disagree with him on that, he loved his jacket and would be damned without it.

When he stepped into the living room, Louis let out a low whistle. “Payno has no idea what he’s up against tonight.”

“You really think so?”

“I know so babe,” Louis said with a devilish grin. “You’ll be snogging before the night is over. I’m willing to bet money on that.”

“I’m not,” Zayn said, looking down at his shoes. Louis came up then, grabbed him by both shoulders, and forced Zayn to look at him.

“I know my best mate is in there somewhere,” He said dramatically. “Whoever you are, quit with the angst and bring by that Malik confidence! My Zayn is a handsome, god-damn sexy beast and he does not give up when he sees something he likes! And he _likes_ Liam, so he’s going to have him, or so help me God I will explode.”

He felt a bit silly. When they were younger, Zayn used to have to literally fight people off him some days. If he was interested in a person, he went for them, with no second thought. He didn’t get rejected and he used to believe in himself. But then he met Liam and he kind of became a bit of a bitch. He had used his regular charm on Liam, but he’d never budged. Not once in the past two years had Liam ever really expressed much interest. The old Zayn would never have let that stop him. Now, Zayn only focused on it. Louis was right. He needed to quit being so angsty and go for Liam. If it didn’t work out, then that would suck, but at least he would know. He just won the lottery, clearly luck was on his side at the moment.

 “Your right,” Zayn said, standing up a little straighter and dusting himself off a bit.

“Course I am,” Louis said, patting his cheek like he used to when they were kids. “Buck up, I’m pretty sure Harry just text me saying they were in the building.”

“Liam’s here?!”

“Don’t panic! I just got you acting normal again,” Louis scoffed as he made his way towards their front door. Sure enough there was a knock a moment later. Louis gave him one last look, something Zayn knew was meant to be reassuring but really just liked maniacal, before swinging open the door.

On the other side of the door stood Harry, looking like he always did with that goofy grin and ripped pants, and next to him was Liam. And Zayn could literally feel his heart stop. He’d pictured Liam about a thousand different ways. Shirtless, naked, dressed up for Halloween – the normal fantasies one has about their crush. But this…he never could have pictured. He didn’t do Liam justice in all his fantasies. For starters, he had shaved. Zayn had really been in love with that scruff, but clean shaven Liam looked fucking fantastic. He had on this perfect buttoned up suit jacket and tie, his hair was up in a little min-quiff, and Zayn almost stopped breathing when he saw how tight Liam’s pants were. He looked so good it should be fucking illegal.

“Well boys I’d invite you in for a tour, but that would cut into our drinking time and I really don’t want to do that,” Louis said loudly, as if they all weren’t standing a foot apart. He grabbed ahold of Zayn’s wrist and tugged him forward, pulling him out of his Liam-induced daze. He managed to smile at Liam before steadying himself. He was 23 years old. He was a relatively good guy. He knew he was good looking (hey he was a good guy but that didn’t mean he had to always be modest). He was kind of a catch. And he was going to make sure Liam saw that tonight.

“Good thing I told the cabbie to wait then,” Harry said. Louis kissed his cheek sloppily.

“You’re so smart Harold.”

“I wish you’d stop calling me that,” he muttered as he led them all to the lift. Louis grabbed a hold of Harry and whispered something (dirty) in his ear. Harry blushed but smirked back at Louis. Zayn was watching the two of them and envying how cute of a couple they really were, he hadn’t noticed Liam sidled up next to him.

“You look nice,” Liam said softly, meaning for just Zayn to hear.

 _Be cool, don’t freak out._ “Oh yeah, better than my apron and khaki combo at the diner?”

“Yeah,” Liam nodded, eyes focused on the approaching lift. As soon as it dinged, Louis and Harry were pushing each other inside, just as Liam said, “But I think you could make anything look good.”

Liam moved inside then, without looking back at Zayn. He forced himself to keep from blushing at that, because did Liam just flirt with him?! He was not going to let that go by unnoticed.

They all squeezed into the cab together, Harry giving the driver instructions. Louis had mentioned where they were going, but Zayn didn’t actually pay attention. He had been too hyped up about seeing Liam to even care about where they went. Louis and Harry were in an intense debate over who they wanted on the next season of The Great British Bake Off when Zayn decided to get Liam back.

“You don’t look half bad yourself,” he leaned in to whisper to Liam. “Although, the uniform is pretty nice as well.”

“If I’d gone for fireman instead, I think that uniform would have look better,” Liam shrugged and damn it, Zayn didn’t have anything to say to that. Because he was too busy picturing fireman Liam and trying not to get turned on, which was very hard indeed. He caught Liam smirking out of the corner of his eye. Since when was Liam even the slightest bit cheeky? It was _really_ hot.

He didn’t have much time to think about it, or come up with anything flirty to say back, because the cab was stopping and Harry was paying their fare. Louis pushed both Liam and Zayn out onto the street at once, telling them both to stay put.

“Is he always so demanding?” Liam asked.

“No,” Zayn said as he surveyed the area they were in. It was extremely posh and he could only imagine what a pint would cost over here. “He’s usually much worse. Must be holding it back for your sake.”

“That’s him holding it back?” Liam said, sounding scandalized. “He nearly pushed us into oncoming traffic.”

“He would have blamed us if he had gotten hit,” Zayn said turning to find Liam watching him. He smiled because having Liam’s attention was probably the best thing in the world. “One time he knocked out my front two teeth with a football and said it was my fault for not moving out of the way.”

“Did you step in front of him after he kicked it?”

“No, the bastard aimed it right at my face.”

“He’s very scary for such a little person,” Liam said, looking back towards Harry and Louis. Zayn surged forward and put a hand over Liam’s mouth.

“Don’t ever let him hear you call him little,” Zayn warned him. He could still remember the last time someone made a comment about Louis’s size. That arse sure wouldn’t be having kids any time in the future. Louis was hypersensitive to the fact that he was shorter and skinnier than almost everyone he knew, some of their female friends included. He had been that way since they were kids. Zayn had tried telling him that being tiny wasn’t a bad thing and people found it cute (Harry being one of them) but he wasn’t having that.

Zayn realized he was still holding Liam’s face and dropped his hands quickly. He smiled nervously. “No size jokes. You can tear the mickey out of him for anything else.”

“I don’t usually tease people,” Liam shrugged. “It’s not my thing.”

“You’re too nice,” Zayn suggested, because Liam really was. Liam was the kind of person who would drop everything to save some poor little girl’s kitten from a tree. But that was half the reason he found Liam so endearing.

“I’m going to take that as a compliment,” Liam said.

“Good, I meant it as one.”

Liam was about to comment on that when someone began shouting his name from down the street. Zayn turned to find a blonde lad in a snap back making his way towards them, waving wildly. He looked back at Liam and saw him grinning madly, jogging towards the other guy.

“Niall, you made it!” Liam said, hugging this Niall person as soon as they reached each other. Niall slapped him on the back before letting go.

“Wouldn’t miss it,” He said, his voice thick with an Irish accent. “Can’t believe ya actually won it! Crazy bastard. Did you get him to split it like you planned?”

Liam nudged Niall in the ribs and it was then that Niall noticed Zayn standing there awkwardly. Where the hell were Louis and Harry and why did Zayn suddenly feel so out of the loop. Who was Niall? Better yet, who was he to Liam? Did Zayn have more competition than he realized. And what did he mean about getting ‘him’ to split it with Liam like planned?

“Zayn, this is Niall,” Liam introduced and Zayn bit back the remark of ‘really, hadn’t figured that out myself’ and instead leaned forward to shake the blonde’s hand.

“Pleasure to finally meet ya Zayn,” Niall said, shaking his hand hard. “Payno here has been trying to get me to go to that diner with him for some time now. Always going on about how great the service is.”

Liam was glaring at Niall at this point, but he was just grinning from ear to ear. “Where is Haz?”

“I think him and Lou might have actually gone inside without us,” Liam said after scanning the street. “I know Harry got us a table in here,” he pointed towards some hipster looking place called _Fabric_.

Sure enough, when they managed to actually get inside the place, they found Louis and Harry already at a table, drinks in front of each other as they flirted shamelessly. Harry seemed to notice them at once, getting up from the table and happily pushing towards them. He grabbed Niall and pulled him in for a hug.

“Niall, you made it!” By the sounds of it, Harry already had managed to get in a drink or two. Zayn would have been annoyed at Louis and Harry for that, seeing as this was his and Liam’s celebration, but he’d gotten a little time alone with Liam and he couldn’t complain about that. What he could complain about was the blonde who had interrupted that. Whoever this Niall guy was, Zayn was positive he didn’t like him much.

“Why do you guys sound so surprised?” Niall asked as they followed Harry back to the table. They got there in time to hear Louis asking one of the drink girls to bring two rounds of shots over. Zayn’s stomach clenched at that. The last time he had done shots, he’d woken up in Perrie’s bath tub with swimming trunks on and a rubber duck.

“You never come out anymore,” Harry said. They all squeezed into the booth together. Harry pretty much in Louis’s lap, with Niall next to them. Liam sat on the other side next to Zayn. He had to hide his smug smile at that. Liam rather sit next to him than Niall.

“I’m pretty busy at the office most days,” Niall said. Zayn found it hard to believe this guy wearing a neon green vest and matched high tops worked in an office.

“Liam’s works 50 something hours a week and he still manages to see his best mate every other day,” Harry said, frowning at Niall.

“Niall just doesn’t love us as much anymore Haz,” Liam said, pouting.

“I’m here now, aren’t I?” Niall asked exasperatedly. Liam and Harry laughed at that and the blonde just rolled his eyes. The drink girl came back with a tray so full Zayn had to do a double take. He could make out tequila shots, vodka shots, 5 pints, a bottle of champagne, and nice glasses to go with it.

“Did you order the whole bar Lou?” He asked, eyeing the drinks skeptically as they were placed in the middle of the table. Niall was rubbing his hands together, while Harry bounced in his seat. Liam looked reserved as he took one of the pints for himself.

“Shots first,” Louis said, handing whipping out to stop Liam. “Shots, champagne, and then you can drink whatever you want.”

“Are we supposed to remember what happens tonight or were you planning a huge blackout?” Zayn asked. If Louis had already ordered this much, he was scared to see where the night took them. He’d been doing really well with Liam so far. But if he kept drinking like this, he might make an ass out of himself. No, he’d definitely make an ass out of himself.

Louis ignored him, unsurprisingly, as he doled out the shots. Once everyone had two in front of them, he lifted the tiny glass up, “To Liam and Zayn winning big and supporting me the rest of their lives!”

“Thanks for footing the bill,” Harry suggested, lifting his glass to meet Louis.

“To getting so pissed we forget why were are here,” Niall suggested with his shot in hand.

“Or just to having a good night,” Liam said, raising his own glass.

“To having the craziest friends in the world,” Zayn said after a moment, “Who seriously will not be mooching off me. And I’m not footing the bill.”

“Spoil sport,” Louis said before knocking back his shot. Everyone followed suit, Zayn being the last. The tequila went down horribly, but the vodka was a little easier to take right after.

Because he was crazy, Louis ordered two more rounds before turning back to the group. “So Niall, I don’t know you. How do you know my Harry? Tell me about yourself and why I should like you.”

Usually, Louis was blunt to the point of rudeness. It was something he was well aware of about himself and he’d told Zayn on countless occasions it was how he tested people out. If they could handle him, then he deemed them worthy of his friendship. Zayn had told him that it wasn’t exactly fair to test people out so early on, but Louis never listened. Apparently he’d done it to Zayn when they were little, but Zayn had just thought Louis was loud and annoying. He still was, but he was also getting the information that Zayn wanted to know about Niall. Who was he and why did Liam get so excited to see him?

He wasn’t fazed by Louis’s directness, “Went to primary with these two when I moved here from Ireland, then college with Li. Been friends with them for as long as I can remember. I graduated from uni two years ago, been working for a private company as their specialized computer technician ever since. I support Derby County and I can eat Nando’s every day. And I think you’ll like me just fine after a few more pints.”

Louis was aghast as he asked, “Derby County?” While Zayn was impressed, “You graduated two years ago? You don’t look any older than us.”

“Double majored in engineering and computer tech,” Niall said with a wave, “It was easier to do it all quickly, so I took summer and winter courses to finish early. Not like either of these two came and partied with me at school.”

“Hey, was I supposed to turn down getting into the academy at 17 for university?” Liam asked.

“No, you were shit at school,” Niall said. “You would have been miserable. Doesn’t mean it wasn’t lonely!”

“You act like you weren’t shacking up with a different girl every night,” Harry said.

“I’ll have you know I only had time for ladies on the weekends,” Niall said. “Speaking of, wonder if that fit bartender is available.”

“Why don’t you go find out? And be sure to bring back another round,” Louis insisted, pushing Niall out of the booth.

Zayn caught the grin that Louis slipped him and hid his own. So Niall was straight then, or at least not interested in Liam. That was a great start. He already liked the Irish bastard a bit more. With his friends distracted (aka snogging) and Niall off getting drinks, Zayn took his opportunity.

“So did you only invite Niall out tonight?” He asked, leaning closer to Liam so he could hear better. Or because Liam still smelled really good. Better than he had at the diner.

“Yeah,” Liam said, leaning towards Zayn as well. “I didn’t want to really tell anyone that wasn’t super important about us winning.”

“Right,” Zayn agreed. “Me either.”

“So did you not invite anyone else?”

“Louis is my closest friend,” Zayn said, even though that much was obvious. “I figured it’d be nicer if we kept this small.”

“I think you were right about that,” Liam grinned. They were a lot closer than Zayn was used to. Liam’s smile up close was much nicer. He should have been experiencing it this way all along.

“You’ve got nice teeth,” He said without thinking. He forgot he was kind of a lightweight. Those shots had acted quicker than he thought they would. 

“Only my teeth? I’ll have to say, that hurts a bit.”

“Everything’s nice, honest,” Zayn promised with a hand raised.

“Well, everything on you is nicer,” Liam said and Zayn wondered if Liam felt as dizzy and bubbly as he did. It wasn’t an unpleasant feeling. It was actually quite nice. He’d like to feel like this more often. Especially if it meant that he got more compliments from Liam.

“Only nice?”

“Are you fishing for compliments?” Liam asked, raising an eyebrow before bringing his pint to his lips. Zayn watched him take a sip and watched his Adam’s apple bob as it went down. It was official. Anything Liam did was hot. Even just drinking some beer.

“Me?” Zayn pointed to himself before shaking his head. “I would never. I’m much to pretty for that.”

“That’s true,” Liam said. “But, you already knew that.”

“It’s much nicer to hear you think I’m pretty than to say it myself.”

He might not be a threat to Liam, but Niall was making a habit of interrupting Zayn and Liam’s flirting, because just as Liam went to reply, Niall was back, slamming another full tray of drinks onto the table. Some of it splashed, landing on Zayn and Liam. Louis cackled, while Niall issued a somewhat sincere apology. Zayn wanted to be annoyed with Niall, but he was handing Zayn another drink and Zayn kind of forgot that he really didn’t want to drink too much, because he didn’t want to make an ass of himself in front of Liam. But Liam was taking his offered drink and Zayn didn’t want to look silly not taking his own. They did more shots, for stupid things like Niall finding a pack of stickers at work that week or the tattoo Harry had on his bum. The more they drank, the weirder their honors were. After the 10th, maybe, 11th round of shots, Louis suggested they try dancing and _nothing_ sounded like a better idea.

Of course, Harry and Louis weren’t actually dancing. No, whatever that was, it was probably as close to sex could get with your clothing on. Niall disappeared into the crowd, to find a girl for himself, and Zayn was left alone with Liam. Up until then, Zayn had forgotten the fact that he couldn’t actually dance. Usually when they went out to the clubs, he watched from the sidelines while Harry and Louis did their thing. He never minded, because it was better than embarrassing himself out on the floor. He had no rhythm. His hips never could match the beat of any song, despite how hard he tried. He’d even practiced numerous times, alone in his bedroom.

Liam didn’t seem as apprehensive as Zayn did. He was swaying his hips in time with the music, eyes closed and tongue between his lips. Zayn couldn’t move. He was in a trance, his eyes glued to Liam. Watching him dance was the hottest thing Zayn had ever seen. He didn’t even know what the name of this song was, he thought it might be from one of the Fast and the Furious movies, but Zayn knew he’d never be able to hear it again without thinking of Liam. Shit, he’d probably never be able to hear it again without getting a boner. He was unabashedly staring at Liam, growing hard, in the middle of a packed club and he couldn’t do a thing to stop himself. He was going to blame it on the alcohol, 100%. He hadn’t had this much to drink in a while, plus he didn’t actually eat dinner. Yup, he was completely pissed and that was why he wasn’t stopping himself. Instead, as the music grew louder, to the point where he felt it thumping in his own veins, he decided to say fuck it and joined Liam.

It seemed Liam didn’t expect Zayn to press his back flush against his front, because he paused momentarily. Zayn refused to get embarrassed, because he was drunk and he could blame it on that, not the fact he had a huge crush on Liam and had been dying to get this close to him for 2 years now. Liam didn’t push him away though, instead he wrapped his arms around Zayn’s waist and pulled him in closer. Liam was skilled enough for the both of them, because as the music played he somehow managed to get Zayn moving in time with him. They continued like that through the next few songs, dancing and drinking, wrapped around each other. Zayn’s mind was on overload, from all the alcohol and Liam combined. They fit perfectly together, he couldn’t ignore that. Liam was able to get him out of his shell and dancing in front of everyone and he wasn’t embarrassed at all.

“I don’t know why we’ve never done this sooner,” Liam whispered in his ear as one song died out and they waited for the next to start.

Zayn turned so he could look at Liam. Their mouths were inches apart, close enough that if he moved just a bit more forward they would be kissing. “You never asked.”

“You didn’t seem interested,” Liam countered. Zayn rolled his eyes at that, because he seemed more than interested. He seemed down right pathetic with how available he’d made himself to Liam. But they were having fun and he wasn’t’ going to ruin that with a nasty remark.

“Well you’ve missed out on a good time,” Zayn said just as Liam’s grip on him tightened. The music was back on and Liam was rolling his hips into Zayn. His mind went fuzzy. If Liam kept doing that, Zayn was going to lose his composure and throw Liam to the ground in the middle of the club.

“That won’t happen again,” Liam said and it sounded like a promise.

Zayn was tempted to ask him about it, but just then Louis and Harry crashed into them. One look at the couple and Zayn could tell Louis was plastered and Harry was no better off.

“We gotta go,” Louis slurred.

“Why?” Zayn shouted over the music. He was having fun and he wasn’t ready to leave. Liam looked just as unwilling to go.

“Someone might have smacked the bouncer’s ass,” Louis said, looking around wildly. “And that someone might have gotten told to get the fuck out.”

“You smacked the bouncer’s ass?!” Zayn pushed at Louis, because his mate was an idiot.

“Harry dared me!” Louis yelled back, pushing Zayn right back, into Liam’s chest. Liam grabbed Zayn round the middle.

“God Harry, don’t you know he never backs down from a dare?”

“No!” Harry said and Zayn shook his head because they were quite possibly the worst behaved couple in all of England. Maybe the world.

“Looks like we better go,” Liam said, pulling Zayn back as he nodded towards a _huge_ , bald guy dressed in all black. Of all the people to get pervy with, Harry would pick that guy. Zayn grabbed Louis round the wrist, who in turned grabbed Harry and began dragging them out of the club. They got out without the bouncer catching up and it was then he remembered Niall was still inside.

“What about Niall?” He asked as Liam dragged him father down the street.

“He’ll be fine. He's probably headed home with some girl anyway,” Liam said, not looking back. “We should keep going, in case that guy is still following us.”

Zayn didn’t realize how drunk he was until the air from outside hit him. He had a hard time walking in a straight line, or standing really at all. The farther they walked, the more he leaned against Liam for support. Harry and Louis were much worse off behind them. He wasn’t entirely sure how (Liam, obviously) they made it back to his and Louis’s flat unharmed. Neither he nor Louis could find their keys, but apparently a drunk harry knew how to pick a lock.

“Please tell me you don’t break into many places Haz,” Liam said once he’d gotten the door unlocked. Harry swore he didn’t but then turned to Louis and Zayn to give them an exaggerated wink, which had both of them in a fit of giggles, falling to the floor because they were laughing so hard. Liam helped Zayn up and inside, while Harry and Louis thought it would be better to crawl. They were halfway through the living room when they gave up.

“Going to sleep here,” Louis said loudly. “Liam, bring me my blanket.”

“Which one is your bedroom?” Liam asked, still holding Zayn up.

“Don’t go in there,” Zayn warned him, grabbing the front of Liam’s suit jacket. “It’s very dangerous. I almost died in there.”

“That was one time!”

“I’ll be okay. Do you think you can stand on your own for a second while I get it?” Liam asked. Zayn nodded and Liam carefully let him go. He got about three steps from Zayn before Zayn decided to just lay down on the kitchen floor while he waited. It was much easier than trying to stand.

He wasn’t sure when Liam came back to get him, but he heard Liam’s familiar chuckle before being lifted from the ground. A minute later, he was in his bed, snuggled under his duvet.

“Goodnight Zayn,” Liam said quietly.

“Where are you going?” Zayn mumbled into his pillow, only opening one eye to look at Liam’s retreating form.

“Couch,” Liam said, pointing in the direction of the living room.

“S’dumb,” Zayn yawned. “My bed is big. Sleep here.”

“Are you sure?” Liam sounded incredibly hesitant. Zayn wondered why Liam didn’t sound as drunk as he did. Hadn’t they had the same amount to drink?

“Course,” He said, throwing his comforter back and scooting over to make room for Liam. Liam stood by his door for only a minute longer before shrugging and getting into bed with him. Once Liam seemed settled enough, Zayn threw his arm around him and buried his face in the crook of Liam’s neck.

“Night Leeyum,” Zayn murmured.

“Good night Zee,” Liam choked out.


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning, Zayn was thrown out of his peaceful slumber by the sounds of someone ripping a jackhammer right outside of his window. To say that was the worst way to wake up with a hangover would be a serious understatement.

In his drunk-off-Liam state, Zayn had completely forgotten what shots did to him. Unlike most people who felt queasy and had a massive headache the day after taking shots, Zayn felt like someone who’d just been shot thirty times in the stomach and then plowed down by an 18-wheeler, only to be doused in fire moments later. He was _never_ drinking again. No matter what the circumstances. He couldn’t deal with this kind of pain.

And to make matters worse, now that he was fully awake, Zayn realized he was very much not alone in his bed, and extremely naked.

Looking down at his bare leg, thrown over someone’s equally bare leg, Zayn felt his heart stop. Did he fuck someone last night?

Slowly he dared to look further up. His pants were gone, probably in the bathroom or on the kitchen counter. Whoever was in bed with him had kept their underwear on at least, and it seemed their shirt too. When he finally had enough balls to look at their face, he realized that it was Liam laying in his bed. It was Liam that Zayn was cuddling with, fully nude, in his fucking bed. Zayn flew backwards at that, and fell right on his ass on the floor of his room. The sound of his bare ass slapping the wood didn’t wake Liam, nor did his cry of pain. His vision was swimming in front of him as he felt his stomach shoot into his throat. He threw his hand over his mouth and charged towards the bathroom.

He’d only just made it to the toilet before last night’s drinks resurfaced. He heaved over the toilet anywhere near twenty times before his stomach finally stopped reacting. The effort it took to empty his stomach, combined with the elephants making a tap studio out of his skull, made Zayn double over into a ball on the floor. He couldn’t even make it back to his bed if he wanted to. Which, with how mortified he felt at the moment, he sure as hell didn’t want to.

But it seemed his little bout of sickness was all it took to rouse his sleeping companion. A moment later Liam was standing in the door way, his black skinny jeans still missing, looking at Zayn.

“Rough morning, yeah?”

Zayn just moaned, because he couldn’t really form words, and rolled on his side until he was fully facing Liam. That seemed to spur the boy on, because Liam knelt down in front of him.

“Are you okay? Do you want me to get you some water? Tea?” He asked, pressing a cold hand to Zayn’s forehead. Zayn didn’t meant to lean into the touch, because he was embarrassed and he really didn’t want Liam to see him in such a state, but his cool fingers felt amazing against Zayn’s burning skin.

“I’m fine, you should go back to sleep,” Zayn lied, curling in on himself a bit more and squeezing his eyes shut. If he pulled his knees all the way into his stomach, the throbbing pain there lessened just a teeny bit. It did nothing for the pain in his head, but he knew better than to complain about something that was entirely his fault.

Liam’s cool touch left his forehead and Zayn could feel him stand back up. He’d expected Liam had taken his advice until he heard the water turn on. A minute later, Liam was pressing a wet cloth to his forehead and rubbing soft, slow circles on his back.

“Do you think you’ll be okay if I pick you up?”

“What? Why?”

“I’m pretty sure your bed is a lot more comfortable than the bathroom floor,” Liam said with a laugh.

Zayn wished he could tell Liam that he was fine to walk on his own, but he was positive that wasn’t true. He was content on just staying where he was, but if Liam was nice enough to offer to carry him back to bed, who was Zayn to say no?

“I should be okay if you pick me up,” Zayn said while opening his eyes. Liam was kneeling beside him, his brown eyes full of concern. He nodded before slowly putting his hands underneath Zayn’s body and lifting. Zayn groaned and Liam stilled instantly. “I’m okay,” Zayn said after a minute of getting situated.

Liam picked him all the way up and Zayn curled into his body unconsciously. Sadly, a minute or so later Liam was setting him down in his bed. Zayn wanted to pull Liam down with him, but he knew that he’d already been forward enough, having slept naked on top of Liam, that he couldn’t even think of asking Liam to snuggle with him.

Liam tucked the comforter all around Zayn until he was completely snug. “I’ll be back in a minute, you’ll be okay, right?”

“It’s just a hangover Leeyum,” Zayn teased, because he needed some sort of normalcy. “It’s like I’m deathly ill. Just suffering from too many shots.”

“Yeah, you stole a few of mine last night,” Liam said with a grin. Zayn’s eyes widened, because he didn’t remember doing that. He wondered what else he’d forgotten then. “Sit still, I’ll be right back.”

He didn’t come _right_ back, but ten minutes later, Liam was walking into Zayn’s room with a tray in his hands. He had two glasses of water, a mug of tea, a plate of plain toast, some honey, and milk all spread out. Zayn also spotted a bottle of Advil next to the water. Liam was a smart man.

“I don’t know how you take your tea or if you can stomach it right now, but I figured I’d bring you everything that helps when I’m feeling a bit hung over and see if it worked for you too.”

Liam spoke so fast and kept his eyes on anything but Zayn, for a moment Zayn thought he was about to flee, but then he realized that maybe, just maybe, Liam was nervous. He had no clue why Liam would ever be nervous. He had to realize he was literally the perfect human being. Any man that delivered tea, toast, and medication to someone with a hangover was a godsend.

“You’re the best,” Zayn said because it was true but also because he wanted Liam to realize he was grateful for all his effort. He knew their kitchen was an unorganized mess. Louis might have cleaned up the dirty dishes but there was no way he’d organized it so things were in any sort of order. Their spices were in three different cabinets, they kept the honey on top of the fridge, and the teabags in a drawer next to the stove. It was all very strange but it worked for Louis and him.

“It was nothing,” Liam said with a wave of his hand, setting the tray down next to Zayn.

“Here put that on my lap and lay back down,” Zayn instructed. “It’s early as fuck. You should go back to sleep. There’s no reason to be up because I got sick.”

“I’ll be fine,” Liam said, but he still moved the tray onto Zayn’s lap. After a moment of just standing there, looking at Zayn, he shrugged to himself and climbed into bed.

Moving was difficult for Zayn, given his current state and blanket cocoon, but he eventually was able to wiggle enough to give Liam some of the blanket. He tried to protest, but Zayn just glared at him.

“Thank you,” Liam said while he snuggled under the warm blankets.

“What are you thanking me for?” Zayn asked incredulously. “I’m the one who should be thanking you. You’re like a gift from the hangover gods.”

“For letting me spend the night,” Liam said with a shrug. “I hope I didn’t weird you out since I kicked my jeans off in the middle of the night. I don’t usually sleep in anything other than my boxers.”

Zayn was a bit depressed that the comforter was covering Liam’s legs and he’d been too drunk/hung over to appreciate them when he had the chance.

“Seeing as I woke up naked, I can promise you I’m not weirded out.”

“You tried to take a shower at 4 in the morning,” Liam said before bursting into laughter. “I heard the water running, but you were sitting on the floor just staring at it. You told me you didn’t know how to do it.”

“Well, I’ve made a through ass of myself, haven’t I?” Yeah, he was never drinking again. Not when he managed to literally be as strange as possible in front of the one person he wanted to impress.

“Not at all,” Liam assured him.

“You’re too nice. You can tell me if I freaked you out,” Zayn urged. He didn’t Liam being all nice about things. If he thought Zayn was a total basket case, then he’d like to know it.

“I had a lot of fun last night,” Liam said instead of responding. Zayn couldn’t help but admire how adorable and sexy Liam looked in the morning. His brown eyes were diluted with sleepiness, but they crinkled a bit more than usual. His hair was this rumpled mess that screamed he’d just had sex, even though he’d been a total gentlemen when Zayn had crawled back into bed naked.

“Even though I was twice as drunk as you were?” Zayn asked, not fully remembering all the details of their night out, but he distinctly remembered feeling a lot drunker than Liam had looked. He wondered what the hell Louis and Harry had gotten up to, then decided he probably didn’t want to know.

“My tolerance for alcohol has been higher ever since I went through the academy,” Liam explained, resting his head back against the wall. Zayn resisted the urge to lean forward and nibble at his exposed neck. “You drank more than me though. I wasn’t lying about you stealing my shots. I turned around at least two or three times and you’d knicked mine off of me.”

“I’m sorry,” Zayn said, because he was certainly paying for it now. “Usually I’m kind of a handsy drunk who loves to share everything.”

Liam opened one eye and looked at him, “You’re handsy like that with everyone you drink with?”

 _Handsy like what…_ and then Zayn remembered all the dancing. God he had pretty much thrown himself right on top of Liam in the middle of that club.

“Oh my god,” Zayn groaned, because he thought he’d been embarrassed before, but that was nothing compared to this. “I never dance. Whatever I did last night…I don’t even think I have words to express what that was.”

“I’m not complaining.”

“Again, you’re too nice,” Zayn thudded his head back against the wall. The contact made his head swirl, but he needed something to break this.

“Zayn,” Liam’s voice was stern. Something Zayn hadn’t heard from Liam before. He immediately looked over at him. Liam was giving him an undecipherable look. “I’m not really this _too_ nice person. There’s something I think I should tell you.”

Oh God. Zayn was kind of a paranoid person. When he heard phrases like “we need to talk” or “I need to tell you something,” he immediately feared for the worse. He had his reasons to react like that. One of the only women he’d ever slept with had done this to him. Sat him down when they were sixteen and told him that they needed to talk and then proceeded to tell him she was pregnant. He’d literally lost his mind at that. His parents would never forgive him for getting someone pregnant out of wedlock. Not only would they never forgive him, they would kick him out and ban him from seeing his sisters. He was too young to have a child. He’d called Louis and had a through freak out. Only to find out through Jennifer’s friends she was trying to trap him and hadn’t been pregnant. Apparently she’d known Zayn was bisexual (really he’d just experimented with her, he was gay all along) and felt threatened that men and women did it for Zayn. She wanted him all to herself and she thought making up a story about how the condom must have broken and she had gotten pregnant from their one time together, would keep Zayn in her life. Since then, Zayn has kind of been terrified of people needing to talk.

“What do you have to tell me?”

“I understand if you’re kind of mad at me for this, but I just didn’t really know what to do,” Liam prefaced whatever he was about to tell Zayn.

“You’re making me more nervous with this warning, which I doubt is your intention. Just spit it out Liam.”

“I’ve kind of been plotting with Louis behind your back to figure out a way to get you to go out with me,” Liam said all in one breath.

Zayn heard him though. He heard every single word perfectly. While he heard him, he didn’t fucking understand him. Because that…that just wasn’t possible. Zayn had been obsessed with Liam for years now. To the point where he couldn’t consider other people because he just compared them to Liam and they never stood a chance. He tried to get his mind off Liam, because he’d convinced himself he was never going to get a shot with Liam. There had never been any sign from Liam, until last night at least, that he was even into men, let alone into Zayn. And Louis knew that much. God, Louis didn’t let Zayn live any of it down. He tortured Zayn endlessly, going on about how “if only he had the balls to talk to Officer Payne” and maybe he should just “fucking snog Payno already” and see where they stood. But Zayn didn’t do that, because one, he wasn’t ballsy enough, and two, he didn’t even know Liam was gay!

If he was interested, when the fuck had that happened and how had Zayn missed it? Better yet, if Louis knew all of this, what kind of twat keeps that from their best fucking mate. Which led Zayn to believe that none of this could be real and Liam wasn’t as nice as he’d once thought. That certainly stung.

“Who told you?” Zayn asked, crossing his arms over his chest. Which physically ached now. How could Liam be so cold? He’d never pegged Liam as the kind of person to tease someone. Especially not over something so serious. It was painful to think Liam found this all funny. Zayn didn’t cry, but if he did, he would be on his side right now balling his eyes out.

“Who told me what?” Liam looked lost as he stared back at Zayn.

“Was it Louis or Per?”

“I’m confused…I tell you that I’ve been trying to ask you out and you’re asking who told me something?”

“Clearly you found out how I feel about you,” Zayn said, his tone icy. He’d never thought he’d speak to Liam, of all people, this way. “And now you’re having a bit of fun.”

Liam looked shocked, “Zayn I would never do something like that. Not to you.”

“This isn’t funny Liam and I’d like it if you left now,” Zayn said, trying to turn away from Liam, but a big hand shot out and grabbed his shoulder before he could get far.

“How do you feel about me?” He sounded so serious, Zayn didn’t understand what he was getting at.

“You obviously know that.”

“No, I don’t,” Liam ground out. “I tried to get Louis to tell me, but he never would.  He said I had to figure it out on my own. I thought maybe last night you felt the way I do but I’m just lost now.”

“You…you really don’t know?” Zayn looked at Liam, his Liam (he’d been referring to him that way forever now) and all he saw was sincerity. He might not have known Liam outside the diner, but he _knew_ Liam. They’d talked about everything, from when they were kids and Liam had been horrible at school and when he was bullied and that’s why he took up boxing, but ultimately wanted to become an officer. Zayn had confided in Liam about his own bullying as a child, where instead of taking up activities to ward off his bullies, he’d holed up in his room and painted for hours, sometimes through the night, and he’d only used to let his mum or Louis see what he’d worked on. Some days he wouldn’t even show them. But he would have shown Liam, if he could. Liam always told him that his art mattered. He’d been pestering Zayn for weeks about finishing his novel and letting him finally get a chance at reading it. That Liam, he could never do something to intentionally hurt Zayn. He didn’t have it in him.

“Look Zayn, I’ve liked you just about since that first day I ate at the diner,” Liam confessed after Zayn sat their quietly thinking. “I probably should have told you a while ago, but I never thought you would even consider me. You’re the kind of beautiful that makes me forget what I’m going to say.”

“You think I’m beautiful?” Zayn whispered, because this wasn’t happening. Liam was not confessing secret hidden feelings for him. That he had been harboring for _just as long as Zayn_. This couldn’t be real. He was having a very lovely dream. That’s what this was.

“You’re the prettiest person I have ever seen in my life,” Liam admitted. “You’re the reason I even walked into the diner in the first place.”

“What do you mean?”

“I was coming out of the hairdresser with my sister when I saw you walking into the diner,” Liam said while rubbing the back of his neck. It was a nervous tick. “It sounds massively creepy, but I followed you inside because I wanted to see what you were up to. And I got seated in your section and I kind of have been coming back ever since.”

“You saw me first?” Zayn asked, because all this time he’d thought he’d been the one who spotted Liam first. He still had a scar on his hip from when Louis attempted to booty bump him out of the way and sent him flying into the counter’s edge. He rubbed it absent-mindedly. “I thought I was the creep this whole time.”

“My station is two towns over,” Liam said, clearly in the mood for confessions. “With it’s own diner right around the corner. But I wanted an excuse to see you again, so I just kept eating there. I figured you didn’t know any other cops when you never asked why an out-of-town Officer was eating there daily.”

This was nuts. “So you’re telling me, you followed me into the diner, have been eating there religiously for two years now…because you like me?”

Zayn had thought he’d seen all the cute sides of like. Like when his eyes crinkle all the way up if he’s having a good laugh. Or when he smiles into his cup before looking up at Zayn with the world’s deadliest puppy dog eyes. Or even when he’s grinning from ear to ear, not showing any tear, but his pretty pink lips are spread across his face. But this…this face was better. Liam looked a little timid, but mostly he looked sure of himself. He was grinning at Zayn, his teeth gleaming and his eyes just on the ride side of glinting.

“I guess I should have said something sooner,” he said with a light shrug of his shoulders, “but yeah, that’s exactly what I’m saying. Tommo seemed to figure it out as soon as he and Haz started dating. He teased me about it for months until I finally asked for his help.”

This was news to him. He knew Louis had been aware of the fact Harry and Liam were neighbors, but he’d never known Louis was doing the same sort of ribbing to him he was to Liam. He was going to be murdering his best mate that night, for sure.

“And he actually helped you?”

“Not much,” Liam laughed. Zayn noticed he was inching closer on the bed, which was nice. Even though they’d drank a boatload last night, Liam still smelled incredible.

“Louis prefers helping himself,” Zayn offered, because while Louis was one of the sweetest people he’d met, he was also pretty damn selfish.

“Well, he only offered to help because he said in the end it would help him if you and I shagged already,” Liam said and Zayn choked on his water. Why he chose to take a sip at that precise moment was beyond him. Liam clapped him on the back and Zayn felt his cheeks redden at the touch. Liam’s hands were rougher than he’d imagined, a nice sort of callused against the smooth skin of his back. He wondered how they would feel elsewhere.

“He’s such a twat.”

“Niall’s the only who actually gave me the biggest help.” Zayn raised a questioning eyebrow. Because while Niall clearly had to be really smart given his career path, Zayn found it hard to believe he could give out successful love advice. “He’s the only who suggested the whole lottery thing. He said it’d be really romantic and all that tripe if we won, his words, not mine.”

“So you don’t think it’s romantic?” Zayn asked, because now that he knew why Liam asked him and how he’d felt all this time, it seemed a fuck-ton of romantic.

“I think it’d be a bloody lot more romantic if you came with me on that holiday I had planned,” Liam offered, with just the tiniest of smiles adorning his lips.

The look in Liam’s eyes did it for Zayn. This was real. Liam really felt the same way about him. Maybe he wasn’t as obsessed as Zayn was, but he wanted Zayn. Wanted him enough to conspire with Louis and plan out this whole elaborate way to try and woo him. He couldn’t help himself. Completely forgetting the fact that he was still very naked, Zayn attacked Liam. He’d spent the last two years wondering what it would be like to kiss Liam and he hadn’t don’t him any justice. Liam’s lips were honestly the soft things in the world. But he kissed so hungrily that the force it stole the breath right from Zayn. He couldn’t believe this was actually happening.

Liam pulled away a moment later, completely breathless, “Does this mean you’ll come with me?”

“God, of course,” Zayn said, trailing his lips down Liam’s collar bone, stopping when he reached Liam’s birthmark. He’d been staring it for two years now, wondering what Liam would do if he sucked on it. He tested his theory, finding Liam squirm underneath him, emitting the most delicious sound.

“How about,” Liam asked breathy, forcing Zayn to look at him for a moment, “Coming as my boyfriend?”

It seemed silly to get so excited over the idea, because clearly they fetl similarly for each other and had wasted the last two years thinking they had no chance, but Zayn couldn’t help feeling like a teenage girl in love at the idea. Liam wanted him to be his boyfriend. Liam would be _his_. Finally, after all this time, he was getting his man.

“Fuck yes,” Zayn said because nothing in the world would make him happier. And seeing the shit-eating grin Liam wore made it that much better. He had a boyfriend. _Liam was his boyfriend._ Life was pretty much perfect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry, not over yet! There will be an exceptionally fluffy epilogue. Coming soon!


End file.
